‘A miscarriage never crossed my mind'

Rebecca Adlington shares her recovery from sepsis as she and husband Andy process a devastating year of baby loss

- OLIVIA BUXTON AND RHIANNA BENSON

A year on from suffering the agonising loss of what would have been her third child, Olympic swimmer Rebecca Adlington admits that the immeasurable heartbreak has made her reluctant to try for another baby.

The much-loved athlete, 34, shared the devastating news last August that she and husband Andy Parsons – with whom she has two-year-old son Albie – had suffered a miscarriage at 12 weeks, with Rebecca later being kept in hospital to battle sepsis, a kidney infection and a high fever.

After what has been one of the most challenging years of her life, the mum-of-two, who also shares eight-year-old daughter Summer with ex-husband Harry Needs, believes that the odds of conceiving again are against her, following an ongoing struggle with polycystic ovary syndrome.

“It’s not easy to get pregnant,” says Rebecca. “I just don’t want to put loads of pressure on it or have any expectations. Especially when people start asking every single month, ‘Are you pregnant?’ I don’t want to deal with that while working full-time and having two kids. If it happens, it happens. If not, it’s not meant to be.”

Rebecca shared the news of her miscarriage with her followers on Instagram at the time, describing their loss as a “devastating time” for her family, which understandably, they found difficult to process.